Thursday Thought

¨What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” 

Kurt Vonnegut, Palm Sunday: an Autobiographical Collage

So I feel like I'm cheating a little bit in today's ¨thought¨. I knew that I wanted to write about the power of community and found a quote to go with my theme, rather than my normal practice of finding a quote that speaks to me and writing about it.

I value a sense of community enormously, but I often think of community in terms of the city where I work or the neighborhood I live or the church I attend. This week I was reminded again of the unintentional communities that I am a part of.

I've been biking to work more often than usual, which means a bit less time on the bus (22 one-way bike trips in May!) - but yesterday my shift started half an hour earlier than usual. I just couldn't bring myself to leave the house at 6:40, so I decided to take the bus. As I arrived at the bus stop, one of the other regulars greeted me with a ¨hello, fellow folding bike owner¨ and we started to chat. Another woman, who I used to see regularly on my way to Marysville walked up and I asked how she was doing - unfortunately, she had just suffered a family tragedy.

¨I don't know what I'm going to do,¨ she whispered.

¨There are no good words for me to say, but I wish that there were. I know that we don't know each other that well, but could you use a hug?¨

¨Yes,¨ she responded, tears in her eyes. I tried to infuse every ounce of warmth that I could to support a woman who is now nearly totally alone in the world.

Her bus arrived and she left saying, ¨thank you, thank you¨. And as she left, I wished that there were more that I could do for her, but I also felt good to live in a world where near strangers can offer each other comfort at a busy bus stop by the freeway.

I continued my conversation with the other folding bike guy, making small talk about the Farmer's Market - whether he or his wife would see me later that night there, until my bus pulled in to the stop. Who should I see in the front but another regular that I first started riding with 7 years ago. ¨I'm so glad to see you. It's been ages. I heard from that guy with the mustache that you'd changed jobs.¨

¨You mean Gerald?¨

¨Yeah, I've wondered what you've been up to.¨ And we continued talking about his new laptop until the bus reached my final destination.

Sometimes I have to remind myself to turn off my city facade, with the stern ¨don't bother me¨ face - to accept smiles and exchange conversation with near strangers, even if I think I'd rather be reading or writing, in order to combat the loneliness in the world.